


Out of Sight, Out of Mind

by NariRose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Broken Engagement, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Engagement, F/F, F/M, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Happy Ending, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), Italian Pidge | Katie Holt, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Fluff, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Reunions, Samoan Hunk (Voltron), Slow Burn, some homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-06-20 23:57:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 17,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15545106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NariRose/pseuds/NariRose
Summary: The gang is headed back to Earth. They are in search of Sam Holt, who has plans for a replacement Castle of Lions. They will have to explain to Earth where they've been for the past two years, and the paladins will have to reunite with their families. The thing is, they aren't there to stay.Aka a Shadam/Adashi and Klance/Laith fic that is super long.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to write a fic where the gang goes back to earth, but season 7 comes out in exactly a week so we will see if I can get out all these chapters in seven days...  
> This is also my first fic on this website so please be nice(:

Home.  
They were finally going home. To their parents. To their friends. To the garrison. Lance never thought he could miss the Garrison, but he did. He missed sneaking out at night. He missed his old teachers. He missed his dorm room, with all the photos of his family plastered on the walls. He even, as crazy as it sounds, missed Iverson. The ruthless teacher wasn’t his favorite part of Earth, but Iverson taught Lance many lessons during his stay at the Garrison. Although he hated detention, Lance missed the quiet time. 

In space there’s nothing. Sometimes it’s so quiet Lance swears he can hear his own heartbeat. But in space, the quietness is lonely, whereas on Earth its comfortable and you have people around you. That’s another thing. There’s barely anybody in space. 

Sure, he has his best friends on the ship with him, but he’s been living with them for over two years now. He misses his family. Even his wild younger siblings, crazy grandparents, and weird aunts & uncles. He especially misses his mom. Lance’s mother was the kind of woman who made huge breakfasts on Saturday mornings and woke you up with the smell of bacon. She would take a day off work if you were sick and would make you the best soup and sandwiches. 

His little brother, Marco, was 14 when Lance boarded Blue and flew into space. Lance imagined the now 16-year-old at the Garrison. Lance knew Marco wanted to go to the Garrison as well but always joked that the flight school could only handle one McClain at a time. Unfortunately, now there would only be one McClain at the Garrison, due to Lance’s disappearance. He regretted every fight he had ever had with Marco. 

Lance’s older brother, Luis, was always the father-like figure in his life. He was the person that taught Lance how to ride a bike and how to catch a jellyfish. He would be the person to drive to Lance’s school if he ever got in trouble, and then take him to get ice cream afterward. He would tutor Lance in math, and in middle school he helped Lance with his entry essay for the Garrison. He had always been a good kid, but once when Luis was seventeen, he showed up one night at their family home being escorted by the police. After that, he decided to get his act together and graduate from high school. Later on, he got into college and when Lance asked why he was so determined, he said, “I gotta set a good example for you and Marco.” 

Lastly, Lance’s older sister, Veronica, was the best sister anyone could ask for. Veronica was the first person he came out to. Afterward, she just hugged him and asked why she had been told first. To be honest, when Lance walked into her room that day, he wasn’t planning on coming out at all. He was going to ask if she wanted to watch a movie, but instead, he broke down and started to cry. Even to this day, Lance doesn’t know why he cried or why he told her. Lance has always carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and has kept every sad thought to himself, but that day he told her everything. 

So yeah, he missed them. More than anything. But now he was going home and he would see them again and he would be able to recount all of his adventures with them. He was happy. Kind of.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heres another super short chapter! I promise I'll start posting longer chapters soon.

Pidge had finally found Matt and their father. After so many years of searching, they would finally be able to reunite their family. They had even created a whole new identity and had enrolled in the garrison in order to find them, but it had been worth it. Pidge imagined the look on their mother’s face and smiled at the thought. They too missed their mother, but they would now be able to see them. They were especially excited to see the family dog, Bae Bae, again. 

\--- --- ---

Hunk had been dreaming of this day ever since his first night in the castle. He even had a planned out speech in order to explain where he had been the past few years. His mother would undeniably cry and his father would make him his favorite earth dish. He imagined his cousin’s reactions to him meeting Aliens and even dating one. He laughed at that. He was so relieved to be going home. 

\--- --- ---

Shiro had never been super close with his parents. Of course he loved them and they loved him, but they had never been very accepting when he told them he was dating Adam. They thought being gay was a phase, just like they thought wanting to become a pilot was a phase. A rough couple of years went by where they barely talked. Thankfully, they had eventually come around and had even helped Shiro with his idea of proposing, but their relationship was never the same. He was glad he would be able to see them and Adam again. 

\--- --- ---

Keith was the only person, except for Allura, Coran, Romelle, and Krolia, that didn’t have family on Earth. His mother, Krolia, had left when he was a baby. He was glad that he found her, and the 2 years in the Quantum Abyss has further strengthened their connection. Unfortunately, Keith’s father died when he was young, therefore Keith was sent to an orphanage. That’s where Shiro found him and brought him to the Garrison. He never really liked the orphanage. He liked the woman that ran it, but she died about a year after he first started living there. She would bring him extra food and was even able to collect a few of his possessions from his old house. He missed her. 

\--- --- ---

Allura, Coran, and Romelle had never been to Earth. They were excited to see where the paladins of Voltron had lived before they were thrown into the war, but were nervous about the new culture. Earth was one of the last planets to still believe that they were alone in the Universe. Earth had little knowledge of what was beyond their solar system. The three aliens were wary of going to a planet that had no knowledge they even existed. 

\--- --- ---

Krolia had been to Earth before. Once, when she was younger and was a new member of the Blade of Marmora. That’s where she met Keith’s father and the love of her life. Leaving her newborn and partner behind was the hardest thing she had ever done, but she was glad she did. She needed to protect them. However, Krolia regretted not going back sooner.


	3. Chapter 3

Seeing Earth for the first time in two years wasn’t as emotional as the paladins though. They thought the blue water and green-brown land would bring tears, but instead, there was just silence. They were almost numb from their long journey and just continued to fly into the atmosphere. 

Allura and Coran had been planning their return for quite some time. They would all go to each paladin’s home one at a time. They were nervous that bringing all of the lions to earth would attract too much attention. The decision was to leave four of the lions, as well as Keith’s wolf, the mice, and Lance’s cow, on Mars and then fly Black to Earth. They would go from the Garrison, to Shiro’s home, to Pidge and Matt’s home, to Hunk’s home and then to Lance’s Home. When they were deciding whose home to go to first, Lance immediately opted for last. In all honesty, he was nervous to see his family again. Would they be happy? Sad? Angry? He really hoped they wouldn’t be angry. He couldn’t bear the thought of his family holding a grudge against him. Pidge and Hunk were having similar feelings. All three of them had sent videos of them when Sam Holt went back to Earth, but none of them knew how it would be in real life. 

They touched down in the desert right outside of Keith’s old shack. The shack looked exactly the same: old wooden boards covering all sides, a beat up rocking chair sitting on the front porch, and the aged, broken down fence that surrounded one side of the property. The only thing that was new was the caution tape that wrapped around the porches pillars. There were also wooden boards nailed up to the windows, and signs that warned of the consequences of entering the property. 

Keith tore down the caution tape and after the door refused to budge, he kicked it down. The shack looked mostly the same except that all of Keith’s few possessions were strewn about. The boxes of files had been emptied, its contents spilled out onto the floor. The makeshift curtain, which was really just a thin white sheet taped to the wall, had been torn down the center. Keith’s bookshelf was now empty and all of his books were randomly placed throughout the shack. His old servers and computer were turned off and his hard drives were missing. The one thing that was the same, was his bulletin board. If anything, there were a few things that were added. 

There was now a new section connected to Keith’s old one. The newest photos included a photo of Blue flying outside of the Garrison, a satellite image of a Galra ship, as well as a photo from a security camera of Lance, Hunk, and Pidge sneaking out. There was also a weirdly detailed timeline of events since the three cadets were seen sneaking out. It also included facts and character traits about each of them. Whoever wrote that timeline must have known Shiro, Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge. Maybe a teacher? Friend? Classmate? Whoever it was, was very concerned about their well being. 

Keith bent down to pick up the nearest file and threw it onto the couch. He walked over to the server in the corner of the room and bent down. After plugging it in and pressing a few buttons, it lit up and made a wiring sound. He ran a chord over to the computer and connected it to the back. The computer turned on and started to reboot. While the computer was running through two years of updates, Keith and Shiro started to put away papers and files, and fill the shelves with books and knick-knacks. While they were busy, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge plopped themselves down on the couch, while Coran and Allura stood by the doorway. 

The computer beeped, alerting them that Keith’s file had opened. He quickly loaded all of the computer's data onto a USB stick and handed it to Shiro for safekeeping. He then proceeded to carry the heavy computer out the door and around to the back of the shack. He grabs his father’s old firefighter ax and then begins to smash the back of the computer. He does this until the computer is ripped in half, and he is sure that nobody will be able to collect any information from it. 

The paladins then returned to Black and turned on the cloaking shield that Pidge recently added. Romelle, Matt, and Krolia joined them, and they started their trek back to the Garrison. Allura quickly briefed them on what to say, and how they were to announce to the world that there was life form beyond Earth.   
“First, Shiro, Matt, Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge will enter, and explain that they must listen and remain calmly. Then Romelle and I will enter, as Krolia and Coran guard the entrance. Any questions?” 

Nobody responded. It was their best and only plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll also be posting another one later today!


	4. Chapter 4

It took almost all day to reach the Garrison. They had gotten to Earth at 4 am Earth time, and it was now almost 5 pm. They quickly went over what to do if something went wrong, and what to say if they were to be on television. The pre-decided group entered the garrison through the visitors' entrance. The walked to the front desk. The receptionist was looking downward, her glasses at the tip of her nose. Her golden hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her bangs were falling in front of her eyes. She was reading a sports magazine. 

Keith cleared his throat and introduced himself. “Hi, ma’am. My name is Keith Kogane and I'm here to see Commander Iverson.”

She slowly looked up and when she saw the 6 “missing” cadets in front of her, she almost fainted. She has seen those faces on the news constantly. They even had a special display case, with photos of all of them, in the Library. The girl had never had any classes with them, but she had seen them in the hallways and in the cafeteria. She looked up to them, and when they went missing, she was disappointed. Although she had never known them personally, she had admired them and wanted to be just like them. 

She promptly stood up and offered her hand out. They all took turns shaking her hand. “Oh my gosh. You’re the Keith Kogane! And you’re Shiro, and Lance, and Pidge, and Hunk, and Matt! Oh my! I never thought you would come back.” She was rambling now. “I looked up to y'all so much. Where have you been? Oh right. You need to speak with Iverson. I'll get him.” 

She swiftly sat back down and grabbed the microphone. She pressed a button with a shaky finger and tried to calmly speak into the mic. “Attention. Commander Iverson is needed at the front desk. You have some very important visitors. I repeat, Commander Iverson is needed at the front desk. Thank you.” She hit another button, and the message was played throughout the building. She leaned her head against the chair's headrest and closed her eyes. She knew that Commander Iverson was in a meeting right now and that she would be chewed out later, but she really didn’t care. The 6 people standing in front of her were way more important than a meeting. 

A few minutes later they could hear somebody stomping down the corridor, and they turned towards the sound. Iverson appeared and within a few seconds, he grabbed Shiro’s left arm and led him into his office. Keith, Lance, and Matt followed suit. Before they left, Pidge gave the receptionist a small smile and Hunk mouthed a thank you. 

\--- --- ---

Shiro and Keith sat down and the rest stood closely behind. Iverson sighed and rubbed his temple. He had just been in a very important meeting, but clearly, that wasn’t his priority at this moment. “Explain.”   
Shiro was the first one to speak. “I’m sure you remember me. My name is Takashi Shirogane, and I was on the Kerberos mission just about 3 years ago.”  
“Of course I remember you. I remember all of you. I need you to tell me what you’re doing here”  
“Well sir, we have come back to earth to speak with Samuel Holt. He has some very important files that are crucial for the survival of Earth.”   
“And just where have you been for the past 2 years? And where were you, Matthew?”   
“We will explain everything, but first we need to introduce you to a couple of people.” 

Hunk left to retrieve Allura and Romelle. When they came back, Keith stood to allow the princess to sit.   
“Hello, my name is Princess Allura of Altea. I have come to Earth in hopes of forming an Alliance, in order to defeat the Galran Empire.” They shook hands.  
“I'm sorry. Princess? Altea? Galran Empire?”  
“Let me explain.”

Allura started to talk about her old life back on Altea. She spoke as if she was reading a children’s storybook, except that this was no fairytale. She told Iverson about how Zarkon turned evil and destroyed her home planet, and that she had then been in a sleeping pod for 10,000 years. She told him about the lions, and how they formed Voltron, and then of how the five paladins came to her. 

Iverson had already heard some of this information when Samuel Holt was revealed to be alive. Commander Holt told Iverson about Voltron and that there was a war going on out there, but Iverson never thought it was legitimate. They had done many tests, but nothing showed to be wrong with him.   
He sent Sam back to his home, thinking that these “stories” were just PTSD from being in space for so long, as well as losing both of his children. Now that he saw that both of the Holt siblings were alive, as well as Shiro, Keith, and Lance, he started to believe it. 

Allura was now explaining what they have been doing for the past 2 years. She told of how they found out that Keith is part Galran, and how when he went to work with the Blades of Marmora, he found his mother. When she got to the part about Shiro dying and his consciousness being put into a clone body, Iverson closed his eyes. 

“So you’re telling me that Takashi Shirogane was a prisoner and slave, had his arm cut off, died, was replaced with a clone, then died again, and then you put his spirit, from the Black Lion, into his clone body?” Iverson was wondering why Shiro was missing an arm and had white hair.   
“Yes.” They all answered in unison.   
“I know it’s hard to believe,” Romelle said, knowing how strange it sounded when she first heard the story herself. “But it’s true.”  
“We’ll let you think a bit. First, we have to find Commander Holt.” Shiro said. 

One by one, they thanked him and exited. Iverson was too shocked by what they told him, to even stop them from leaving. How would he tell everybody that the people that have been missing for the past 2-3 years have returned to Earth and that they might have brought a more than 10,000-year-old war with them? He left his office and walked to his private bedroom. He would deal with it in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> HaHa - Mom  
> ChiChi -Dad

They walked back to the Black Lion, and by the time they got there, it was around 7 in the morning. The sun had already risen, and it was already terribly hot. They all crammed themselves into the cockpit and flew out of Earth’s atmosphere. Keith flew the lion part way around the planet and asked Shiro if there was a specific place they should land. He said there was a farmhouse in Japan that he would go to every summer. It belonged to his grandparents and was recently passed down to his parents. If they were right about what month of the year it was, they should be there now. 

Keith started his descent to Japan. It took roughly an hour to find the right farm, but once they spotted Shiro’s parent’s car, they piloted the lion to an empty field. They got out and headed to his summer home. Surprisingly, Shiro walked behind the group and only moved to the front to knock on the door. He was vibrating with nerves, his hands were clammy, and he was considering just getting back to Black and flying far, far away. It took a minute, but eventually, they heard someone behind the door. Lance saw a child's face peek through the window. Then the door opened. 

The woman who greeted them had peppered hair pulled back with an ornate clip. She was slightly wrinkled but still held a young aura. She had unusual green eyes and there were already tears leaking out of them. She ran forward and hugged Shiro, her son. The woman was almost two feet shorter than Shiro and looked minuscule in comparison. Although Shiro had no prosthetic, he gripped the petite woman in his left arm. She quietly wept as she held onto him. When she finally let go, her crying had left red tear stains down her pale face. She was now rambling in Japanese, as she pulled them inside. 

She led them to a dining room and sat them down. The house was large. Larger than Keith’s shack, Hunk’s apartment, Pidge and Matt’s house, and even Lance’s family home. It, of course, wasn’t as large as the castle, but they could tell that Shiro’s family was very comfortable. The paladins could also tell that the family had done several additions to the house throughout the years, although they wondered why the family would need that much space. 

“Where have you been?” The woman was no longer crying, but it seemed like she would start again at any second: and that’s just what happened when she saw his missing limb. “And your arm?”

“HaHa, please don’t cry,” He still held her hand, “I will explain everything.” A few minutes passed as she calmed down. 

“Okay, I’m ready.”

Although Shiro's mother was partially fluent in English, Shiro still translated into Japanese for her. Allura went through the same speech as she did with Iverson, but added a few remarkable things Shiro did, that would sound good to his mother. She held her other hand, rubbing circles onto the back. In the end, Shiro’s mother hugged Allura tightly and then did the same with Coran. She was distressed by the tales of war, but grateful that the princess and advisor had looked over her son and his friends. 

Shiro looked to all of his friends. They each looked back at him with a comforting smile. None of them knew what they said, but from the way Shiro's mother hugged Allura and Coran, they could tell it went well. Lance had the young girl, from the window, sitting on his lap. She played with his hand and Lance smiled down at her. The smile was joyful, but if you looked closely, you could see the sadness in his eyes. The young girl couldn’t have been older than three, but she was quite tall and mature. Just then, a young woman came running into the room.

“Ms. Naomi, have you seen Kanna?” The young mother looked around the room, and upon spotting her daughter sitting on a strangers lap, she swiftly grabbed the girl and carried her squirming daughter out of the room. Shiro ignored Lance’s hurt look and instead turned to his mother. 

“Who was that?”  
“Oh, well your father and I were getting tired of a big house all to ourselves, so we are now running a bed and breakfast. It has helped bring in lots of extra cash. Especially from tourists.” She says laughing.  
“That’s good. But where is Chichi?"  
"He'll be home soon."


	6. Chapter 6

They stayed till lunch. They met Shiro’s father, Touma, and explained everything to him as well. He seemed to take the news better than Naomi, but he still shed a few tears in private. The paladins did notice that Shiro resembled his father a lot. They both had broad shoulders and were both very toned. Keith could also see where his brother had gotten the dad humor. His father was stern, but every once in a while he would crack a joke to lighten the mood. 

By late afternoon, the paladins decided that they might as well take a nap. The paladins slept in a room that was positioned in a private, closed off section of the house. The room was large and had probably been part of the original house. They rolled out 10 sleeping mats and grabbed some pillows and blankets. The group quickly fell into a deep sleep. Although they had only planned to sleep for a couple of hours, three hours had easily turned into 10. 

However, Keith had woken up after only 7 and had stayed awake. He stared up at the ceiling and watched the fan go round and round. He started to count the times it made a full rotation, hoping that it would lull him to sleep. Around 363 his patience gave up. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he was getting thirsty. He sat up, pushed back his covers, and left the room. The huge house was silent. Kinda eerie, even. He found his way to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. Keith leaned against the counter as he slowly slipped his icy drink. 

He wondered about Shiro’s childhood. Shiro probably hadn’t been to this house since he was 13. He had left for the Garrison the following year, as soon as he finished 8th grade, and only visited his parents during the holidays. After Shiro took on the responsibility of being Keith’s guardian, he stayed with Keith during the holidays. Instead of Shiro going back to Japan, his parents visited him in America. 

Keith had never understood Shiro’s parents. They were so loving, but when Shiro revealed that he was in a relationship with Adam… Let's just say that it did not go well. Shiro's parents didn’t call him for at least a year. They sent him letters for holidays and graduations, but they never dared speak to him. Shiro went into a depression for a long time because of that. He barely went to classes and he almost never ate. It was Adam that got him back to his happy self, and it was Adam that took care of Keith when Shiro couldn’t. Keith always felt like he owed Adam a lot after that. 

He wondered how Shiro will react when he sees Adam for the first time. What would happen? Who would speak first? He hoped the reunion went smoothly. Keith had seen Shiro date and experiment with a few other guys, and their relationships never ended well. He had seen how Shiro and Adam’s relationship ended. They were both hurt, but neither was willing to apologize. They were both too stubborn. Maybe that where Keith got his stubbornness from. 

Keith walked over to the sink, set his half-empty cup in it, and walked back to his temporary room… that he shared with nine people. He walked into the unlit room and looked for his matt. He stood there letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. When his vision was slightly better, he stepped over Shiro and onto his bed. 

“Keith” a disembodied voice called out. Keith nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the unexpected noise.   
“Yeah? Lance, is that you?”   
“Yep.”  
“Can’t sleep either?”  
“Nope, wanna talk?”  
“Sure, why not?”


	7. Chapter 7

“So, why are you awake?”  
“I could ask you the same thing.”  
“I asked first.”  
“You’re such a child, Lance.”  
“I know, I know. Just tell me.”

Keith sat there for a moment. They had left the room to go outside, and they were now sitting on the porch steps. Here in Japan, out in the countryside, the stars lit up the sky, unlike in the city. It was odd, seeing the stars from this angle again, instead of from actually up there. It was now hard to recall the old constellations that Keith had spent so many nights memorizing. Keith took a deep breath. He knew he could trust Lance, he just had a hard time talking about his emotions. In the end, he decided he could tell him. What’s the worst that could happen?

“Well, I’m just worried about Shiro. I know he didn’t have the best relationship with his parents, and I’m nervous about his reunion with Adam.”

Lance didn’t know who this Adam guy was, but he must have been important to Shiro. He must have also been significant to Keith, judging by the way he said the name. 

“Things between Shiro and Adam were great until Shiro decided to go on the Kerberos mission. They didn’t speak for a week after Shiro told him he was going, and then when they did finally speak, Shiro had to leave Earth.” Keith paused and sucked in a breath. “I just don’t want to see him get hurt again.”

Lance had never seen Keith this worried. Not even when they were getting ready to go on a super in-depth mission. Keith’s breath was getting slightly shaky, so Lance decided to just go for it. He hugged Keith. It took a couple seconds, but he eventually relaxed into Lances embrace.

“It’s okay. Its okay to be scared, especially for your own brother. You care for him, and you want him to be happy, but remember that you deserve to be happy, too.” He was still hugging Keith, so he spoke into his shoulder. “We all deserve to be happy. I mean, we are defenders of the universe after all. We deserve a break from war. Just don't think about what could go wrong. Instead, think about what could go right.” Lance paused, wondering if he should say more. They had broken apart but were now looking each other in the eye. "And if you ever need someone to just listen, I'm always here."

“Thanks, Lance”  
“No problem”  
“So are you going to tell me what you were doing awake?”

“Well,” Lance scratched the back of his neck. “I'm nervous.”  
“About?”  
“Seeing my family again.” He was looking into his lap, ”I hope they'll forgive me.”  
“Forgive you? For what?”  
“For leaving them. I left them and never even said goodbye.” Lance was slightly shaking now and was almost on the verge of tears, “They're probably so disappointed.”  
“Lance, they could never be disappointed,” Keith paused, wondering what to say next. He was never good with words, but he knew Lance needed some support. “You’ve been in a war for the past two years. You’ve saved billions of lives, even saved whole planets. Yeah, they may be sad, but they're also gonna be so happy your safe and alive. Plus, you already sent that video to them, so they already know you're okay.”  
“Yeah, but this will be in person. I’m gonna see their faces.” A few tears rolled down Lance's face.   
“Lance,” Keith put his hand on Lance’s shoulder, “You may see tears, but you’ll also see smiles. You’re gonna make them so happy.” He paused letting that sink in. “Think of it this way. You’re gonna be throwing them like, the greatest surprise party of all time.”   
“Yeah,” Lance was half laughing half crying now, “Except there's gonna be no cake and no balloons.”  
“Well… we are going to be at Hunk’s house, and I'm sure if you asked, he would make you the most delicious cake ever. And I'm pretty sure if your family tried Hunk's cooking they could never be mad at you!”

They were both laughing now. Lance had stopped crying from sadness, and new tears had now resulted from his spontaneous change in mood. After a while, both paladins had stitches in their sides. Lance leaned back on his elbows and sighed happily. He looked up at the stars and closed his eyes. 

“Thanks.”  
“For what?”  
“For making me laugh. I needed it”  
“Your welcome. I think we both just needed to talk to someone.” Keith had never said that to anyone. He usually kept his emotions to himself, but he found that he was comfortable around Lance.   
"Yeah," Lance paused, thinking. "Hey, I think this is the longest conversation we've ever had.”  
"Yeah, I suppose so," Keith laughed.   
At that moment they both yawned in perfect unison.  
“Tired?” Keith laughed.  
“Very.” the blue paladin responded.   
“Come on, Let’s get to bed.” Keith started to sit up.  
“Wait,” Lance grabbed his wrist, “let’s just sit out here for a few more minutes.”  
“Okay.”

They sat in comfortable silence until Lance fell back onto the porch floor. Keith shook his shoulder and got him to wake up just enough to walk back to their room. A soon as Keith’s head hit the pillow, he was out. They both slept soundly after that.


	8. Chapter 8

The rest of the paladins awoke around 2 in the morning. Shiro had been the first to wake. He went to the kitchen and prepared breakfast and coffee for everybody. It was weird to be eating and drinking human things again. Seeing Allura, Coran and Romelle try human food yesterday, was quite amusing. At first, they were disgusted with the texture, but soon got used to it. A similar occurrence happened with the paladins as well. They were all so used to eating space goo every meal, that they had kinda forgotten what Earth food was like. Krolia on the other hadn’t missed Earth food at all. But she had also credited this to Keith’s Father’s horrible cooking. Naomi’s cooking was much better. 

What Shiro was most thankful for at the moment, though, was coffee. He got out a brewing pot, filled the bottom with coffee grounds, and then added water. As the coffee was brewing, he got out ingredients for pancakes. He mixed the dry ingredients together and then added the milk, vanilla, butter, and eggs. Shiro had missed baking. Sure, he could’ve baked on the castle ship, but it wouldn’t have been the same. He had missed Earth- and the people on it.

When the coffee was done brewing, Shiro took it off the stove and poured it into two mugs. He added milk to his cup but left the other plain. He sipped on his mug, refilled the pot with coffee grounds and water, and set it back on the stove. He then started on the pancakes. At that moment, Keith walked in. Shiro offered the second mug out to him, and Keith held onto the handle tightly. If anyone missed coffee more than Shiro, it had been Keith. He inhaled his warm drink and took a sip. He set it down and took over for Shiro. 

“So, how did you sleep?”  
“Fine, you?”  
“Good. I heard you get up in the middle of the night, though. You alright?”  
“Yeah, just thinking.”  
“About?”  
“Earth. People. Adam.”

The name hung in the air. Shiro had stopped breathing. The only sound in the room was of the brewing coffee and sizzling pancake. Keith wished he could take it back. He didn’t like seeing his brother pained. 

“I miss him.”  
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought him up.”  
“No, it okay. He was important to you, too. To be honest, I’ve been thinking about him as well.”  
“Well, I’m sure he’s gonna be so happy to see you.”  
“Yeah.”

Just then Hunk, Pidge, and Matt walked in. They were laughing from a previous conversation when Hunk stopped dead in his tracks.

“No fair! You started baking without me, Shiro? You too, Keith?” His mouth was open dramatically.   
“Here.” Keith chuckled. He offered out the spatula, “You can take my place”

Shiro handed Hunk a cup of coffee, as he moved to stand in front of the stove. He had never stopped cooking while he was in space, but it was weird to cook now. The setting was different. The ingredients were different. The smells were different. But it was okay because he was here. On Earth with his friends. He sucked in a deep breath, enjoying the warm vanilla scent. Meanwhile, Pidge had resorted to giggling. 

“What are you laughing about?” Shiro questioned.  
“Keith ” They took a moment to calm themself. They were unsuccessful, as their giggling continued.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“Keith…” they laughed. “He never laughs!”  
“What are you talking about? I laugh all the time! Right Shiro?”  
“No offense Keith, but you kinda take everything seriously.”  
“What?”  
“Name the last time when you really laughed. Like almost-crying-laugh. Like your-sides-hurt-laugh,” Pidge said.  
Keith’s mind was racing, trying to prove them wrong. “Last night, with Lance…” A soon as the name fell out of his mouth he regretted it. Pidge’s mouth curled into a smirk. They almost looked evil, with their eyes pointed directly at Keith, and their smile slowly growing wider.   
“What were you doing last night with Lance?”  
“Keith and I were just talking,” Lance said. He appeared in the doorway. The blue paladin still had bedhead, and it looked like he was still half asleep. “Thank you, Lance.” Keith thought to himself.   
“About?” Pidge was standing in the center of the kitchen, arms crossed, and switching her gaze between the two paladins.   
“Ya know,” he paused, trying to come up with a non-weird way to say that he was talking to Keith, his crush, late at night, underneath the starlit sky. “We were just talking about guy stuff.”  
“You mean gay stuff,” Pidge muttered underneath their breath. Pidge’s words weren’t unheard by Keith though, whose face turned an embarrassing shade of red.   
“Would you like a cup of coffee, Pidge?” Keith said, directing the conversation away from his late-night talk with the blue paladin.   
“Of course.” They took the steaming mug from his hand and gulped down half of it in one motion.   
“Didn’t that burn your tongue?” Hunk asked.  
“Yeah, but it was worth it.” They turned on their heels and walked through the doorway. “I’m gonna find Allura, Coran, and Romelle so they can try Earth coffee.”


	9. Chapter 9

A few minutes later the three Alteans, one Galran, and one (very short) human walked into the kitchen. Now with all ten people in the kitchen, it was a bit crowded. The summer home may have been large, but the kitchen was still part of the original home, so it was smaller. 

Keith poured Lance a cup of coffee before he left with Pidge and Hunk to go to the dining room. As he refilled the brewing pot, he asked his mother how she was doing. 

“Well, it definitely is weird coming back to Earth after such a long time, but I missed it. Your father used to go pick up food at restaurants, and then he would take me on dates. We could never go to a public place, because of my appearance, but he would take me out to the desert. That’s part of how I found the blue lion.” She paused, chuckling to herself, “Haha, he was such a romantic.”

Keith looked at her with a small smile. Krolia talked so fondly about Keith’s father even though she hadn’t seen him in more than 20 years. She had really loved him. He hoped he would one day be able to feel the same way about someone. To be able to trust another person with his life. He could imagine how nice and safe that would feel. 

“Anyway, how are you doing, Keith? I know you’ve been stressing about something, I can feel it.”  
“Oh, nothing. I was worried about something, but I figured it out.”  
”That’s good.” She took a hot mug from Keith. Krolia sipped at the caffeine-infused beverage and sighed. It was one of the things she missed most from Earth.  
After everyone had a cup of coffee, they moved out to the dining room. Shiro and Allura carried plates of pancakes as Coran followed with a stack of empty plates. Thy gathered around the small circular table and dug in. Lance grabbed a bottle of syrup and passed it around the group. The paladins and Krolia watched as the three Alteas tried their first pancake. Allura and Coran mainly just liked the sweetness of the syrup, but Romelle just enjoyed the texture of the food. It was much different than space goo. 

The paladins spent the next few hours reminiscing about their favorite memories from the Garrison, and then they talked about old memories of their family. It was bittersweet, but they all listened to each other's tales about their childhood. Shiro talked about his parents and grandparents and cousins. He had never had any siblings, but his cousins had lived close, so they were basically his brothers and sisters. Hunk talked about how his dad taught him how to cook, and about their family bakery that he and his cousins worked at, as kids. Pidge told embarrassing stories about Matt as he pinched her arm. He had a bright blush across his face. Lance told them about his siblings and his mother. He told stories about their movie nights and how they helped him get into the Garrison. 

When Keith’s turn came, however, there was silence. He had never had a family, so he told the paladins about his say at the orphanage. He told them about the sweet woman who ran it, and about how he hated the woman's uptight daughter. He then told them about how he met Shiro, and how he had beaten the stimulator game and then had immediately stolen his car. Shiro laughed at that and mentioned something about how at the time he had already known Keith would be a great pilot. He then talked about how it was living with Shiro. Keith only stopped when the story came to Adam. He knew that if Shiro wanted to tell the rest about Adam, he would. 

\--- --- ---

It was now around 6 in the morning, when Shiro’s parents arrived in the dining room. The group of 1  
ten had loaded the front entrance with The paladins were wearing their armor when they arrived at the Shirogane's, but they had quickly changed into their civilian clothes. They were now carrying their armor in black cases. Keith and Shiro had also grabbed a few items from Shiro’s old room and packed them into a box. 

“Takashi, are you leaving today?” His mother asked.  
“Yes, HaHa, I’m sorry, but I’ll come back as soon as possible. As soon as this war is over.”  
“Oh, please come back soon then,” She said in a worrying tone. “And don’t lose any more limbs in the meantime.” She hugged him tightly and kissed both of his cheeks before his father hugged him. “Be safe.” Is all he said before he grabbed a box a went out the front door. The paladins shuffled out the door and slowly got into Black. Shiro stayed behind. He wanted to have a private conversation with his parents. 

“HaHa, ChiChi, I'm sorry. I promise I’ll be back soon.” Tears stung his eyes. He missed his parents of course, but what he was about to say next would be difficult. He hadn't said the name in years. Only thought it. “Adam?" He whispered. "What happened to him? Have you seen him? Talked to him? Please don’t say he-” Shiro was cut off as he was engulfed in a hug. Both of his parents held onto him as he cried. “He’s fine. Adam’s okay. He still comes. Every year. Every February.” Shiro’s sobs turned into whimpers as he realized that Adam never forgot. Still remembered him. Was still alive.  
“You better get going,” Naomi whispered as she handed Shiro the final box.  
“Thank you. I’ll be back. I swear. And I love you, HaHa, ChiChi.”  
They had one last hug before Shiro turned and walked up Black’s ramp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all I just created an Insta. Btw I don't currently post art on there.
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/nari.rose.art/


	10. An update

Heeeyyyyyyy....

So the fandom is NOT alright and neither am I. After season seven with the whole Adam*silently crying* thing and Lance/Allura and Keith/Acxa stuff, I've decided that I will continue writing a fluffy fic. We're just gonna continue on like nothing happened and that my heart hasn't been obliterated. This will not be canon whatsoever but its alright... I'm gonna pretend it is.

Although my heart is still hurting, and I know most of y'all's are too, please be nice. To me, to each other, and to of course the VAs and producers of the show. I know they promised us a happy season with lgbtq+ rep, but we just have to keep our hope up for season 8. I know this beautiful show has brought my current friends and I together, and I'm so grateful for it. I'm not ready to quit the fandom and I hope yall aren't either. They said Lance will be someones first choice and I refuse to believe the producers would stick him with Allura(who hasn't shown a hint of interest in him for 6 seasons). Plus, I see no reason why the VAs would lie to us, especially Jeramy who loves the show just as much as we do. They want us to be happy, they're just taking a little detour. They're trying to throw us off by showing us all these "romantic" scenes. 

Whenever ur in doubt, just remember all the parallels and how the producers have surprised us before. And if you don't think they can resolve all of our concerns, remember that they can always produce another season or two if they feel like it(don't get your hopes up though) or even create a spinoff show. Don't lose hope and be safe. Don't panic, watch and read things that make you happy, drink water, eat all the chocolate and pizza you want, and remember your everyday responsibilities(but don't push yourself). In fact, I'm sitting here at this very moment typing this instead of studying...

Just be safe and do things that make you happy. I believe in you and I love this fandom. I promise to keep writing and I know season 8 will be great(sad, but great).

 

Ps, I'm sorry for not uploading any chapters in a few days, but I've been at my friend's lake house for her birthday! Plus it kinda helped to be away from the internet and meditating for a few days. As I said, I will continue this fic with the same plans, and I hope y'all have been enjoying this fic so far. k i c k

EDIT: If y'all need to rant in the comment section, pls do. It helps to talk to someone and to even physically scream. It releases tension and I know how tense I can get while watching Voltron. I really don't mind and I actually love reading about other's opinions on the show. Anyway... have a nice night and eat lots of ur fav food*currently stuffing marshmallows in my mouth*


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been gone for like.... a century. Sorry about that. It's just that school and life at home have gotten stressful and I haven't been writing as much as I would like to. I promise to start updating sooner(I'm already writing the next couple chapters), but in the meantime, here's a quick little chapter! Hope you enjoy :)

Keith piloted the Black Lion into the top atmosphere again. They were scheduled to go to Pidge’s house next, so Keith flew until he saw North America. He flew closer to Lake Erie until Matt pointed to a landmark he recognized. Keith put Black’s cloaking shield on. They flew around Detroit until they reached a small neighborhood. Pidge pointed to an old yellow, three-story, house. Half of it was covered in ivy. 

“Where can we land Pidge.”  
“Uhhh… Any ideas Matt?”  
“I mean there is a cemetery.” He offered.  
“It’ll have to do.”

Keith piloted Black over a few blocks until they could see a huge cemetery. He landed near the back, where the cemetery met a forest. The paladins, Alteans, and Galran got out and walked around the cemetery. Pidge and Matt hadn’t been here since before they left for the Garrison, and they could see that there had been many new graves added. Once they reached the edge of the graveyard, they were met with a waist-high iron fence. Shiro and Matt hoped over it and helped lift everyone else over. They walked down a couple blocks until they got to their street. 

As soon as the old house could be seen, Pidge took off running. Matt followed her closely, as the rest of them jogged behind. Pidge ran up the steps and stopped at the entrance. They swung the storm door open and rasped their knuckles on the wooden door. It took a couple of moments, but before they knew it, Pidge was laying on the ground with Bae Bae on top. He was licking Pidge’s face and neck and wagging his tail almost violently. They looked up at who opened the door. It was Sam, their dad. They hadn't seen them for a little under a year, but for Samual, it had been three. He quickly bear-hugged his children and nudged them inside. Once Sam motioned everyone into the living room, he shut the door. 

“Mom!” Pidged yelled up the stairs. Their voice was quaking slightly, “We’re back.”  
They could hear stomping on the second level and then someone running down the steps. Colleen appeared at the base of the stairs and ran over to her children. She scooped Pidge into her arms as Pidge wrapped their legs around their mother. They sunk to the floor, as Pidge was now slightly bigger. Matt got down to the same level and wrapped the two in his arms. They stayed like that for a couple minutes, enjoying each others company. 

“Where have you been,” their mother asked. “Your father told me you were alive and out there, but where?” She was crying now.  
“Mom, we tried. We really did. We missed you every single day. Every day,” Matt whispered. 

At this point, even Lance and Hunk were shedding a few tears from the interaction. The three huddled there for a couple minutes whispering to each other before Sam pulled them to their feet. He guided them into the living room and sat them down on the leather sofa. As the three collected themselves, Sam went to go get everyone drinks. He came back with a tray full of water glasses and passed them out to everybody. They all siped their water until everyone had calmed enough to speak. 

“We’ve been in space, mom. I know you already know that but that's it. We’ve been everywhere and even nowhere, at the same time.” Pidge said.  
“I’m so glad you back, Katie. And I hoped you’ve been taking care of your brother.” She said jokingly, but with a twinge of sadness.  
“Haha, of course, mom.” They laughed. 

She took her children in one more hug before she took a look around the group. Seeing her children’s best friends was one thing, but when she noticed the four aliens, she was stunned. They were beautiful. They were almost radiating with a power-like aura. Some of them were even physically glowing. She had to force her gaze away as to not make them uncomfortable. 

“I'm Lance,” the blue paladin introduced himself.  
“Haha, I remember you. You were so short when I last saw you.”  
“Ha, Yeah. I guess I grew up” He laughed with a tinge of sadness.  
The rest of the paladins then introduced themselves.  
“Hey, I'm Hunk. I’m not sure if you remember me.” She nodded in response.  
“Hey, I'm Shiro. I’m sure you remember me. I went with Matt and Samuel on the Kerberos mission.” She smiled at him with gratitude.  
“I'm Keith. I’m also Shiro’s brother.”  
“Hi, I'm Krolia. Keith’s mom.” She said, awkwardly putting a hand on her son’s shoulder.  
“Hello, I’m Allura.” She said and shook Colleen's hand.  
“I’m Coran, Allura’s trusted advisor.” He said proudly, patting Allura on the shoulder.  
“Hello, I’m Romelle.” The girl said, shyly. 

“It’s nice to meet all of you. As you all know, I'm Katie and Matt’s mother. I’m so grateful for all of you. You brought my children and my husband back safely. I’m eternally in debt to you.”  
“Oh, no. Please. It was our great pleasure to be able to find your husband and son,” Allura assured her, “and without the help of Pidge, we would probably all be dead by now. They’ve saved us more times than I can count.” Allura laughed. “They’ve honestly become the little sibling I never had.”  
“I’m so glad to hear that my Katie has been a valuable asset to your team. I’ve been so worried, but I know Katie’s smart and is always fighting for what’s right.”

They sat in the living room for a couple hours, retelling stories of their time in space, as well as their journey to get back to Earth. For Matt and Pidge, it was like old times. They sat on the beat-up couch snuggled up to each other. They had a giant handmade blanket draped across both of them and they were now sipping on tea, instead of water. Some siblings fought or grew apart as they aged, but the Holt siblings were one of the few exceptions. In fact, it seemed that they had grown even closer in the past couple years, despite being apart and fighting an intergalactic space war. 

After a couple of hours, it became apparent that they hadn't eaten since breakfast, which had been more than 12 hours ago. They needed quick food, so Sam ordered a couple pizzas and half an hour later, they were delivered. The Alteans had tried Shiro's parents' food and had tried a couple Earth snacks at the space mall, but they were most excited to try the food that the paladins all raved about. Back when the paladins were first introduced to Voltron and had already lived on the castle for a couple weeks, they all sat in the common room to talk about Earth. They had become homesick, so they took their minds off of the raging war around them to talk about the good things in life. Like family. And friends. Especially food. Food had all been a very prominent thing for all of the paladins. The one food they all had on their “Top-missed-foods from Earth” list, was pizza.

Hunk missed his parents´ cooking, their family bakery, and he missed hanging out with his cousins. Especially when they baked together. Pidge missed their mothers's lasagna and their fathers's Detroit-style pizza. Lance missed his grandmother's cooking. He only got to have it every once in a while because she still lived in Cuba, but it was always full of flavor and of course love. Shiro had missed his mother's soups and seafood dishes. Keith, although he had only lived with his father for a short period of time as a child, had a few vivid memories from when his dad cooked. His father would make him foods that combined his Korean heritage with their southern cuisine. He would make Korean tacos or even chile, except the spices were different, as to give it stronger heat. He also remembered making french toast with him on early Sunday mornings, before the sun had even risen, and then how they would take their car out to the edge of a plateau to watch the sunrise. He continued to make the french toast even when he moved in with Shiro and Adam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to leave it at that... but the good thing is that Adam and Shiro's reunion is coming up(maybe soon, maybe not I may change my mind) and that chapter will have a lot of fluff!


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a slightly longer chapter for y'all!  
> Hope you enjoy :)

Watching the three Alteans try pizza for the first time was a sight to see. They were confused by the different toppings and types, especially with the added opinions off all of the Earthlings. Due to the large group of 12 people, they ordered 6 different pizzas with different combinations of toppings. By the time the group had revealed all of their weird combinations, the Alteans and Galran were skeptical. They tried Shiro and Keith’s first because of better judgment and kept the weirdest for last. That meant Pidge would be able to eat in peace for a while. 

Allura ultimately liked just cheese, Krolia liked Shiro and Keith’s, Romelle liked Hunk’s Pineapple and Ham, and of course, Coran enjoyed Pidge and Matt’s. Their pizza was basically just a combination of all of the topping they could possibly get onto a pizza. Usually, the small pizza place only allowed about three toppings per pizza, but the Holt family got an exception because they were friends of the owners. 

Pidge was aching to watch some Earth movies so the group decided they should just hang out all night, but they needed a few things first. They sent Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Keith, and Matt to the corner store a couple blocks down. Ultimately, they sent Keith into the store alone, and video called him so that they would be able to see. Pidge and Matt couldn’t go in because the store was owned by family friends, and Lance and Hunk couldn’t go in because they’d visited the store a few times when they visited Pidge back while they were still in high school. That left Keith. The red paladin walked aimlessly around the store for a couple minutes, allowing the group to make decisions about what they wanted to get. They had about 50 bucks, but Keith doubted they would use all of it. Most of the items in the store were only a dollar or two. 

“Stop!” Lance shouted. Keith jumped back at the sudden noise. “Pick up those. The Bugles, they’re essential!”  
“Bugles? Out of all the Earth foods to miss, you miss Bugles?”  
“Uh, Yeah! They’re a classic. Plus I need to show y’all something.”  
“Okay…” Laughing, Keith grabs a package and keeps walking. 

Every once in a while he stops and picks up a new item that the group suggested. Most of them were sweets but every few minutes he’ll be asked to pick up something weird like mini pepperoni and nacho cheese sauce. Hunk wanted smores materials and Matt wanted almost every sour candy in there. He also picked up a couple things that Shiro and Mr. and Mrs. Holt wanted. After almost an hour of walking around the small convenience store, he walked up to the register. He was carrying two full shopping baskets full of junk food and he probably looked crazy. Keith ended up using all 50 bucks and even having to call Lance in to lend him another eight bucks. He then proceeded to awkwardly carry eight bags of junk food and liters of soda out the door. 

By the time they got back, the group of adults had already chosen three movies to vote from. They ended up watching Star Wars, ironically. Since they hadn’t been on Earth for quite some time, they decided to watch The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Keith, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk sat smushed together on the couch. Throughout the first movie, Keith quietly whispered questions between Lance and Pidge, about the series and who all the characters were. They were patient until he asked what 'the force' is. Pidge jumped up and pointed an accusatory finger at him. Shiro paused the movie and turned around to see the scene unfold. 

“I can’t believe it,” they held the back of their hand to their forehead, sighing dramatically, “Keith of all people, my fellow nerd, hasn’t seen a single Star Wars movie, plus he doesn’t even know what the force is!”   
“I guess as a kid I never had anyone to watch it with, so I never really got into it.” Keith defended.   
“Oh my gosh, my poor Keith!” Lance whispered, putting a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “We must teach you!”

For the next thirty minutes, Hunk, Lance, Matt, and Pidge took it upon themselves to teach their fellow paladin all about Star Wars, its ships, and its theories. By the end, they prided themselves on getting Keith hooked into the story and characters, and they even got Shiro interested in the very, very in-depth theories. They unpaused the movie and continued watching. 

Halfway into The Last Jedi, Lance hopped up and ran to the kitchen. He came back hauling all the bags of food they had gotten, and proceeded to pass them out. He passed Shiro his candied pineapple and YooHoo and Matt his Pringles and huge jar of pickles. Then he passes the liters of soda and bags of pre-popped popcorn over to Colleen and Sam and then continued to pass out the rest to his friends sitting on the couch. He handed Keith a bottle of soy milk and a gigantic bag of hot fries, Hunk his Funyuns and dark chocolate, and Pidge their sour patch kids and peanut butter cookies. Then he plopped himself in between Keith and Hunk and pulled out his Bugles and packages of Oreos. The five had also picked up a couple basic things like gummy worms, Hershey’s chocolate, Doritos, etc so that the non-earthlings could try all of the “amazing cuisine” that they had here on Earth. They watched the movie and passed their snacks around so that the Alteans and Galran would get the full experience. 

After the movie ended, Pidge jumped up and popped Mamma Mia into the DVD player. Mr. and Mrs. Holt had already retired to their room, and Allura, Romelle, Krolia, and Coran had gone to sleep in the guest room. Meanwhile, Matt had grabbed a couple sleeping bags for them to sleep on. Most of them were either asleep or about to be, but when the yellow and blue paladins heard ‘I have a Dream’ playing, they jumped up and immediately started to sing along. Although the opening song only lasted about a minute, the three had sung and laughed enough to wake Keith and Matt. The two newly awake people, looked blearily around the room to see the group of teens dancing around the room. 

“Uh, what’s going on?” Keith asked, still half asleep.  
“Um, We’re only watching one of the best movies ever made!” Lance answered, jumping on the couch next to where Keith was sitting. “K’mon Keith! Dance with us!”

Lance pulls Keith to his feet and drags his to the center of the living room where the other two were dancing. Instead of dancing like the rest of them, Keith awkwardly stands there until he decides he would rather go raid the kitchen for a late night snack. 

“Keith! Grab me more pickles!” Matt shouts to the red paladin.   
“I’m not doing that! I still remember when we were younger and Adam, Shiro and I had to take you to the hospital for drinking too much pickle juice.”  
“What!?”Pidge gasps and pauses their jumping to turn around. “I never knew that! I mean, I knew Matt had a problem, but not that big of a problem!”  
“Yeah,” The suddenly hear Shiro say from his positing sleeping on the ground, “That was not a fun trip to the hospital. I was the one that had to explain to the nurse what was wrong with you.”   
“Haha, sorry Shiro!” Matt said before flopping back down onto his sleeping bag. 

Keith came back with a glass of regular milk and some Oreos, and sat next to Matt, watching the three teens dance around. He dipped his Oreos in the milk, and when he ran out of cookies to eat, he chugged the glass. 

“Keith, you’re gonna regret that” Shiro sang from his own sleeping bag.  
“Whatever, I’ll deal with the problem in the morning”  
“What’s the problem,” Lance wheezed, sitting next to Shiro. He had just finished belting out a song with Hunk and Pidge and overheard the conversation.   
“Keith, here,” Shiro motioned to the red paladin, “Is lactose intolerant, but refuses to admit it.”  
“Because I’m not!” Keith huffs. Sure, milk maybe made his stomach hurt, but that didn’t mean he was lactose intolerant. That would mean he had a weakness… And Keith did NOT have weaknesses.   
And ever since we found out he’s part Galran, I’ve been trying to convince him that’s the reason.” Shiro said.   
“Awwweee, Is Keith upset that he can’t have milk because he’s part space kitty!?” Lance said, ruffling Keith’s hair.   
“Am not!” Keith growled, swatting Lance’s hand away, “Now can we please stop talking about my disagreement with milk!”   
“Sure, sure,” Lance waved his hand, changing the subject. “So did y’all wanna see why I wanted the Bugles.”  
“Sure.” Everyone said in unison, Hunk being the only one who was actually excited. 

Lance pulled out the bag of Bugles and grabbed a blanket that was draped across the back of the couch. He adorned the blanket over his head and arranged the Bugles over his fingertips.  
“It is I, Haggar, the space-witch! I took the beautiful man's arm and then made a clone of him! I've tortured 6 teens for years and given then all anxiety and PTSD. I also have an Amazing husband and son who have killed trillions of people! Now give me all the quintessence!” He said in his best imitation of Haggar. The others burst into laughter, as a proud Lance watched his friends. It had been so long since any of them had joked around about their situation, that by the time they were done laughing, all of their faces were beet red.   
“You’re right Lance,” Keith said slowly, trying to regulate his breathing, “the Bugles were essential.”   
Now it was Lance’s turn to become beet red. He laughed and said, “I told you, so!” 

\--- --- ---

One musical later, the group of friends gathered on Pidge’s living room floor. They laid on old sleeping bags, talking in the dark. Pidge brought out their old star projector, and they set it up so it was facing the ceiling. They talked about what they were excited about, and what they would do after the war was over. They didn’t want to get too deep, so they only talked about the places they would go or the people they would see. 

“What if we get to meet like... Oprah and Ellen... or like The Obamas!” Pidge suddenly said, throwing their hands up into the air.   
“Oh, I guess I never thought about that,” Shiro said, in deep thought.  
“Yeah, we’re gonna be so famous!” Lance whispered. He didn’t know how he would feel about all of the attention, but maybe he could finally be able to buy his mother the nice beach house she always wanted, or buy his brothers and sisters new stuff so that they wouldn’t steal his.   
“Haha, but we still have to finish this war, so stay alive!” Matt joked, grimly.  
“Wow, way to kill the mood, Matt,” the green paladin said, as they aimlessly punched at their brother’s arm.   
“Ok, well now that I’m thinking about the possibility of death, I’m ecstatic, so I’m gonna go to sleep now so that I can start dreaming about it!” the red paladin said in a monotone voice, turning on his side.   
“Yeah, same.” Shiro laughed, pulling the covers over himself.   
“Yeah, I think Hunk’s been asleep for a few minutes so I will, too.” Lance followed.   
“Please don’t wake me until at least 10,” Pidge grumbled as they flopped onto their stomach.


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super duper sorry for not updating in forever! I went on a trip where I had no access to a computer, and then once I got back, my writer's block hit hard :( I've been procrastinating this chapter and have instead been writing some super cool scenes for the future. Either way, this chapter kinda sucks, but I promise they get better! :)

The following morning was filled with a grumpy Pidge and sugary cereal. Matt had made the horrible mistake of waking his younger sibling twenty minutes before 10 am and promptly received a wack from their pillow and a pull to his ponytail. The rest of the paladins had gotten up at roughly the same time to be enveloped in a full out pillow fight. As Lance, Keith, and Hunk joined in, Shiro stumbled into the kitchen to find Colleen, Allura, Coran, and Krolia looking through a holograph of the plans as to how they would deal with the Garrison. Shiro joined them where they were huddled around the island. 

“Oh, good morning, Shiro! How did you sleep?” Allura asked, sipping from her mug of tea.   
“Good, Thank you. What are you all working on?” He asked, taking a glass from one of the cabinets.  
“Well, I know we already had a plan, and a couple backup plans, as for how we would form a peaceful alliance with the Garrison,” she set her cup down, flicking her fingers to set the slideshow back to the beginning. “But Colleen has provided us with some helpful information regarding Commander Iverson.”   
“Yes, you see, after you went missing, they told the public you were dead.”  
“Yes, we already knew this but wha-”  
“Well,” Allura stopped his train of thought by pointing towards a news article. The heading read ‘After mysterious aircraft lands outside of Garrison, three teens reported as dead, and several families are now suing.’   
“Iverson broke down after that. The program lost thousands of dollars and he fired almost everyone that was working on the Kerberos Mission. The school lost dozens of kids and it took over two years for them to get enough money to even send people to and from the Space Station”  
Coran tried to comfort Shiro by putting his hand on his shoulder, “Everyone else’s family thinks they’re dead. The Garrison held funerals for everyone. There’s a memorial all of you in the school’s courtyard.” He tried to pat Shiro’s back, but the kind gesture didn’t calm him. His mind was spiraling with horrible thoughts of people crying for him, and lilies on gravestones, and Adam. Adam must have been devastated. After being lost on the Kerberos mission, after Adam had begged him not to go, and then crash-landing on Earth a year later, to only go missing again and pronounced dead. Shiro couldn’t handle the thought of his parents and fiance mourning him. And Lance, Hunk, and Pidge. They had families, big ones. Their entire families had been devastated enough to sue the Garrison. He knew the families well enough to know that they had probably used the money to try to find them, and his suspicions were confirmed when he flipped to a new slide that showed another newspaper. The headline read ‘Families of missing cadets hire private investigators.” As he moved through another couple slides he read the papers, the time stamps showing how months had passed. After one year of newspapers about the missing boys, and later to be confirmed girl, they pronounced the teens dead.   
Shiro held his head in his hand. This would make the next two visits so much harder. His parents had a whole other year for them to grieve, but the yellow and blue paladins’ families wounds were newer, fresher. They may not have fully accepted the loss after searching for their sons for so many years. He didn’t know if that would make these reunions harder or easier. Sure, they had gotten a coded message from Sam alerting them of the safe being of their children, but there's no guarantee that they decoded it or even believe it. It is kinda hard to believe someone that tells them that their child is up in space, farther away in other galaxies the Garrison could only dream of traveling to, fighting a more than 10,000-year long war. Against aliens. Shiro couldn't blame them if they disregarded it and took it as a very horrific prank.  
Shiro sat back up, pulling himself together. He knew if they wanted this trip to go at least semi-smoothly, they would have to think smart, be prepared for every possibility. He couldn’t let this visit go wrong. 

“Let’s hope that Sam’s two letters weren’t intervened with and that Hunk and Lance’s families are okay.”  
“We sent more than those two,” Colleen whispered, putting her hand on Shiro’s back.   
“Well, yeah. I know you sent one to my parents, but they never got theirs because it was sent to their apartment and they have been living at our summer home.”   
“We sent one to Adam.”

Shiro’s heart clenched in his chest. Yes, Adam had been his fiance and Shiro had introduced him to the Holts, but he never imagined that they would send a letter to him. He wondered what Adam did when he received it. Did he read the first sentence ad rip it up at the mention of Shiro? Or did he cry, knowing that he hadn't died? Shiro doubted Adam would ever want to see him again after he left for Kerberos. After Shiro put the mission above his health.

Shiro didn’t answer. He just walked to the sink and precariously placed his empty cup on top of the empty plates and bowls the group had collected last night. As he struggled to peel an orange with one hand, he heard a high-pitched scream. He ran into the living room to find Pidge sitting on top of their brother beating him with a pillow. Matt was laughing and screaming as their younger sibling covered his face with a blanket. The other three woke to see a flailing Matt and an overjoyed Pidge. Lance pulled a pillow over his head, unsuccessfully trying to go back to sleep, yet Hunk sprang up and proceeded to lift a kicking green-paladin, by their waist. He shuffled the grumpy teen out of the room and seated them at the kitchen table. Matt and Shiro joined a couple minutes later, the elder Holt making sure to sit at the opposite side of the table from his sibling. Keith had gone to the bathroom and Lance was still cocooned in his sleeping bag. After all the paladins were seated at the table, minus the sleeping blue paladin, Shiro explained the situation to the rest. 

“So, Hunk,” Shiro hesitated, seeing the worried look on the yellow paladin’s face, “Your family is under the impression that you aren’t missing. Because it’s been so many years here on Earth, they think you’ve died. However, don’t fret over it too much cause Sam sent a coded message to them, alerting them that you’re okay and coming back.” Shiro almost yelled at the speed he was talking at. He tried to lessen the blow by assuring him that a letter was sent, but you could see the panic set in on Hunk’s face. The teen was connecting the dots and you could see the horror in his face when he realized quite how long it had been since he had seen them.   
“But, Shiro! My family's made up of engineers and bakers. They probably never figured out Sam’s message and they still think I’m dead. And it’s been,” Hunk paused, calculating how many years it had been for them, with the addition of the time jump they had, “like 5 or 6 years! They’ll be so disappointed in me. How can I face them now?”

“Hunk,” Pidge put their arm around their friends, “We’re all going to be there with you. You aren’t alone. Plus, Shiro’s parents figured it out and they don’t even work in the Science and Math industry! You have your parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, and all of your cousins, who are all super smart!. Plus, don’t you have that one cousin that's like, obsessed with riddles?”   
“I guess. Thanks, Pidge,” Hunk squeezed the green paladin, cutting off their air flow until Pidge was practically throwing themself around. When Hunk finally let go, he gave a sheepish smile and apologized. “It's just that my mom and dad were already so worried when I went to the Garrison, and at the time I was going into a field that didn’t even send people into space!”   
“Don’t worry. Hunk. It’s not like they’re gonna ground you.” Matt laughed.   
“Haha, I guess not!” the yellow paladin chuckled as he sat back down, “By the way, where are Keith and Lance?”  
“Maybe they’re playing seven minutes in heaven?” Pidge said. At that moment they heard Lance moan from the living room. The green paladin shot up from their seat. “I didn’t really think that!” the teen thought. They tiptoed to the doorway and the rest followed, their curiosity getting the better of them. What the group saw both disappointed Matt, Pidge, and Hunk, and had Shiro in relief.   
Lance was still swaddled in his sleeping bag and Keith was shaking him, quite violently. “Get up, Lance! You’re gonna miss breakfast.”   
“Ugh, I don’t care!”  
“We’ll I care cuz for the rest of the day I'm gonna hear about how hungry you are!”  
“Fine, but you’re gonna have to drag me in there.”  
“I’m not hauling your ass in there! Get up and walk.”   
Ugh, fine.” sitting up and dramatically stretching his arms over his head. He reached his hand out towards Keith. The red paladin stared at the waiting hand before wiping his sweaty hands on his pants and helping Lance to his feet. The two walked to the dining room where their friends quickly scrambled back into their seats. Colleen walked into the full room with two plates of bacon, one turkey and one pig.   
“Remember our bet, Hunk,” Pidge said, stuffing their mouth full of bacon, not caring which was which.   
“Yeah, yeah. I remember, and I'm totally winning.”  
“I doubt it.”  
“Ooohhh, what bet?” Romelle said, entering.  
“I’ll tell you later,” Hunk replied.   
“I wanna know,” the blue paladin said, shuffling into a chair.   
“It’s nothing, just a stupid bet on who will win in a fight. Allura or Shiro?”  
“I bet on Allura,” Lance replied, confident in his answer.   
“Of course you do,” Keith mumbled, snatching a piece of bacon.  
“And I assume you think Shiro would win?”   
“Not necessarily. It’s just that I think they’re both too nice to fight in the first place.”

The group of five watched as their red and blue paladin bickered. After the two teens had argued enough to agree to disagree, they sat back down and bickered about whether turkey bacon should even be considered bacon at all. 

\--- --- ---

After everyone had eaten the entire freezers worth of bacon, they packed up their belongings. Then they rearranged the living room back to how it was before they destroyed it with their dancing, and headed back to Black. The group walked around the graveyard, spotting different names on gravestones.   
“Look pidge, it's you!” Matt said pointing to the closest gravestone. The old stone read Katherine in scratched, worn down letters. Pidge laughed, but felt a pang in their heart, remembering when they saw Matt’s gravestone. They remembered the feeling of hopelessness and how lonely they were, even though they had the rest of the paladins to accompany them. The shook their head, trying not to get too deep into it, and kept walking.


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a super duper short chapter but hopefully, I can crank out another chapter for next week to make up for it! Enjoy! :)

The group loaded their bags back into the storage compartment in the back of Black and started to make their goodbyes. Although Matt wished to stay in Michigan, he knew Shiro would need his support. The rest of them thanked the Holts for accommodating them, and walked up the ramp, towards the cockpit. Pidge and Matt were the only ones who stayed, saying their private goodbyes.

“We’re going to miss you two so much. Stay safe,” their father said, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.  
“We will be coming back to the Garrison next week when school starts again,” Colleen said, hugging them both. They remained there for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s presence. Matt hugged his parents, kissing his mother’s cheek, before turning and walking up the ramp. 

“Can we talk?” Pidge asked, motioning towards a nearby bench. The three sat on the smooth granite, as Pidge gathered the courage to speak. “You promise you won’t think any different of me? Please, this is really important to me,” they whispered, a few stray tears trickling down their face.  
“Of course we don't think anything different. You’re always going to be our baby girl,” their mother said, pulling them into a side hug. “You can tell us anything.” This set off Pidge’s crying, even more, knowing how much their mother loved to call them her ‘baby girl’. The green paladin sucked in a deep breath, getting ready to pour their heart out.  
“I don’t want to be just a girl, or just a boy for that matter. I just don’t feel comfortable putting a gender label on myself. I just want to be me. And I guess it r-really hit when I became Pidge Gunderson and I was labeled a b-boy. I just realized that I don’t really identify as being f-feminine or masculine, more of a mix, or like n-neither. I-I hope you a-accept me.” They talked so fast that by the time they were done, their breath was frantic and ragged. Tears were still streaming down their face and they were physically shaking. Sam and Colleen wrapped their arms around their youngest, whispering encouragements.  
“We understand. Baby, please don’t cry, we know, we’ve known for a while. Honey, it doesn’t change who you are. We love you,” Their mother whispered, rubbing circles into Pidge’s back.  
“We will always love you. Don’t ever be afraid to tell us something,” Their father added, ruffling Pidge’s hair. Pidge wiped their tears on their sleeve, calming down.  
“Oh my god. Mom, dad, thank you, thank you so much! I thought you would hate me,” Pidge whispered, clinging onto their mother’s sweater.  
“Sweetie, don’t thank us, it’s our job to be there for you. We created you, how could we hate something we created with our own two bodies,” their mother said, chuckling.  
“Eww, why’d you have to put it that way!” they said shaking their head, trying to suppress a laugh. 

Pidge stood, looking towards the lion. “I guess I should go.”  
“Of course, we understand.”  
They hugged, and PIdge walked halfway up the ramp before their father called out to them.  
“Honey, how do you want to be addressed?”  
“Haha, I guess I never thought about it. I don’t think I really care what pronouns you use, whether it be feminine, masculine, or gender-neutral, just don’t be rude I guess. If you're unsure just use gender-neutral terms. And you guys can still call me Katie, but I think I’m still going to present myself as Pidge to my friends.”  
“Just let us know if there's anything you’re not comfortable with.”

With that, Black shut her mouth and stood back up. Pidge joined the group in the cockpit and looked down at their parents. The siblings waved and signed ‘I love you’ as the lion’s cloaking shield was put back up.  
“Are you okay?” Matt asked, pulling their sibling into a side-hug.  
“Yeah, I think I’m better than okay, actually.”  
“Good, now you can stop being such a moody teen.”  
“Hey! I’m technically almost 20 now!”  
“Sure, sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had absolutely no idea about how to write a coming out scene. I never had to come out to my mom(cause she honestly doesn't care who I date+she knows I'm too antisocial to ask someone out) and none of my friends have come out yet. I hope this scene was OK and got the message through clearly?  
> Once again, thanks for reading! I appreciate all of your support :)))))


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with another update! Due to the recent hurricane down here in the south, I've had to help my mom around the house a little more. Therefore, I haven't been able to write as much as I've wanted to. I appreciate all of yall for sticking with me through my erratic schedule. Hope you enjoy! :)

“Okay, next stop is Hunk’s,” Shiro said, turning to the yellow paladin, “you ready?” 

“Um, on second thoughts, I'm not. Lance, are you sure you don't want to go to your family first?” Hunk quickly responded. 

“Nope. No, no, no. We’re going to your house first, you _need_ to see them,” Lance protested, crossing his arms.

“Oh, okay? But as soon as we’re done, we’re going to your house,” Hunk assured. Lance didn’t respond, instead fake smiling. Of course, he wanted Hunk to see his family as soon as possible, but he was far more invested in pushing his own reunion back. 

“So, Hunk,” Keith started, pulling up the navigation system, “Where do you live again?”

“Well, most of my family still live in Samoa, but when I got accepted into the Garrison, my parents decided to move to Hawaii. I guess we should go to Kailua, Hawaii.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Keith responded as he set the navigation for Hawaii and started to fly. 

 

Although it only took about half an hour to find Hawaii and then to find Hunk’s house, it took another 30 minutes to find somewhere to hide the lion. They ended up dropping Allura, Coran, Romelle, Matt, Krolia, and a begrudging Shiro, off at a remote, private beach that’s probably owned by some millionaire. The other four paladins offer to go find a place to park the lion that’s not on the mainland. Fter searching and searching, they finnaly find a cove that's right off of Popoia Island. Although Black isn’t like Blue, it still had a waterproof shield that you could put up. The paladins put on their armor and swam to the surface. Even though it was only a quarter of a mile from the mainland, they knew it would be difficult for Shiro to swim without his prosthetic arm. 

“Ahhh, I forgot how much I love to swim in the sea,” Lance announced, as he broke the surface of the water. He took off his helmet and let it bob on the water. He slicked back his hair and floated on his back, enjoying the hot sun on his face, “I missed this.”

“You could’ve swum in the pool on the castle,” Pidge murmured, trying very hard not to get their own hair wet. 

“Yeah, but after me and Keith got _stuck_ in that elevator, I’ve had a fear of the place.”

“Uh, I think it’s _Keith and I,_ but yeah, me too,” Keith said, pulling his hair into a low ponytail. 

“I think they’re more afraid of _being stuck with each other,_ than them just being claustrophobic.” Hunk whispered into Pidge’s ear. They snickered together as Keith shot them a menacing glare. The group swam to the beach, enjoying the heat of the early morning. 

“Hey, guys,” Hunk said, pulling his friends’ attention away from their own minds, “you all are gonna get to have my mom’s breakfast.”

“What? But we left at like 11 from Pidge’s house?” Keith wondered out loud. 

“Yeah, but Michigan is six hours ahead of Hawaii”

“Oh, I guess I forgot about time zones, ya know, being up in space for like _eight years._ ” Keith laughed sadly at just how long he’d been away.

“Yeah, like what time is it in Cuba?” Lance asked.

“Um, the same as Michigan, so its like lunch time.”

“Oh my gosh guys, first we got to try Shiro’s famous pancakes, then we had pizza at Pidge’s, now we’re gonna get to try Hunk’s parent’s food, and then we get to my house, you’ll get to try my mama and meemaw’s cooking,” Lance said, visibly already in a better mood about going home.

“Haha, looking forward to it,” Hunk warmly said. 

 

The group easily swam to the beach, but by the time they got there, they didn’t want to get out, therefore, Lance convinced everyone to join him for some quick scuba diving. Even though it was early morning, the paladins decided to swim to a more secluded cove on Kailua beach. Lance and Hunk went over the basics of what you can touch, what you can’t touch, and what fish and sea life to stay away from. They ultimately decided, just to be safe, that they would tether themselves together. Pidge and Keith had never scuba dived because Pidge usually went to a lake and Keith never had anyone to take him places as a kid. 

Although Keith would never admit it, he was excited to see the bottom of the ocean. He’d only ever seen coral and tropical fish at an aquarium his elementary(primary) school went to. Even then, he only saw a couple fish before getting in trouble for blowing hot air onto the glass and then making patterns in it. He silently laughed at the memory, wondering how much stress he caused his teachers, before being pulled underwater by Pidge. 

“Stop daydreaming about your boyfriend. C’mon and swim with us!” They said, pushing a blushing Keith towards Hunk and Lance. 

They swam around the cove for half an hour before realizing they had left only Shiro and Matt to babysit a group of four aliens. They quickly took off their armor, leaving on the skin-tight black suits. Although it was still pretty early, there were now a few people out walking their dogs. Keith couldn’t help but think about how ridiculous they must look to passers. To others, it looked like a couple of teens that just went swimming in scuba suits, but if you looked closer, you would see that they didn’t have scuba tanks or masks, but instead heavy, army-grade armor. 

After fifteen minutes of searching along the beach, they found the spot they left the others at. Upon arrival, Keith could see the look of annoyance on his brother’s face. It looked as if he was a tired parent, trying to control four excited children plus an excited Matt. Apparently, Earth’s Ocean is way different from other oceans because of its color and the fact that it’s salty. The three Alteans were actually running around like small children, even Allura. They spotted Coran sitting in the water, pulling up small fish and getting confused at why they were so eager to get back into the water. Matt was trying-and failing- to bury himself. Romelle was sitting in the sand, building structures, but what really confused them was when she brought a handful of the sand up to her open mouth. Just before the substance reached her lips, Pidge tackled her from behind, causing the two of them to go tumbling towards the water and a waiting Allura. The princess had just enough time to look up to see the two before getting pushed into the water. The three sat in the shallow water, laughing with sand in their hair and most likely in their pants. 

“Romelle, you aren't supposed to eat the sand,” Pidge laughed while they stood up. 

“Well, how was _I_ supposed to know that!” Romelle huffed, shaking some of the sand out of their blond locks. 

“Yeah, Pidge,” Allura defended, “We tasted the water before you got here.”

“It's just that humans are gross and throw their trash into the ocean and stuff. We just don’t want you guys to get sick,” Pidge explained, reaching into the water and withdrawing a tin can to emphasize their point. 

“Oh, understood,”Alura mused, a thought brewing. The three Alteans plus Pidge ran back up the beach to join the group. 

 

“So Hunk,” Shiro said as everyone turned towards their beloved yellow paladin, “You ready to see your family again?”

“I don’t know guys. How do I even approach them? They’re probably at work, so there’ll be _people_ around,” 

“I think I have an idea,” Pidge began, “but we have to get it _just right_.”

 

Shiro didn’t have a good feeling about this.


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda late on this update _but_ its cuz I've been working on a new fic!! I won't tell yall what it's about, but know that its kind of a crossover. I'll post it in a few days!

The group of ten snuck around the back of the building. Well…. They snuck as much as they could for a group of ten. When Pidge had proposed their idea, Hunk thought it sounded great, but now that he was actually here, he was terrified. The plan was that Hunk would walk in, order a whole bunch of something that's on their menu and basically wait for some kind of reaction. Hunk said it would be pretty easy since it would most likely be his father to bring out the food. 

Hunk peered through the storefront window, eyeing the young girl who stood at the counter. She had dark chocolate-brown hair, brown eyes, and warm honey skin. She leaned against the counter, flipping through a textbook. His family always hired a young high school student to be a cashier because they wanted to give students opportunities to “build a resume for themselves.” Looking back at all the times Hunk had begged to be at the counter, he understood why they wanted a freshman or sophomore to run it. She had a couple of other girls standing around her. They probably wanted a schoolgirl to attract their own friends in, so they would have more business. Hunk never had many friends in Hawaii, partially because he was at the Garrison and only came home for holidays and the summer. He shook off the jealousy he felt for this stranger and walked in. 

 

“Hey,” Hunk said, walking up to the counter. He shifted awkwardly from side to side, hands in his pockets. The girls stopped their conversation and stepped back from around the register.

“Aloha, What can I get for you?” She asked, slowly looking up from her notebook, trying to write one last sentence. 

“Um, can I get five orders of Pani Popo and Panikeke?”

“Sure, name?”

“Uh, Rolo,” Hunk claimed, trying not to sound too suspicious. 

“Okay Rolo, that’ll be about twenty-five.”

 

He handed the girl, whose name tag read Alani, thirty and went to sit at a nearby table, motioning the others to join him through the window. Keith and Shiro pushed together with a couple tables and the large group sat uncomfortably close, Pidge sitting half on Matt’s chair, half on Lance’s. Romelle and Allura were squished together, and although Shiro was missing an arm, which should mean he gets more space, he was struggling to keep his wide shoulders from bumping someone in the face. They filled almost the entire dining portion of the small bakery. The cashier, Alani, leaned against the counter, eyeing the group of ten. She wondered what a large group like that was doing in the small bakery she worked part-time at. They laughed about conversations she couldn’t hear and they were more than comfortable around each other. They almost seemed like a family. A makeshift and diverse family. 

Although Alani should be studying for her PSAT, she couldn’t take her eyes off of Rolo. He was familiar, with the same facial features and expressions as Mr. and Ms. Garrett. She wondered if they were somehow related. It was hard to talk to them about family after the incident with their son disappearing. 

After a few other customers ordered and left, she was called to the back.  
“Alani, Who the heck ordered so much?” Mr. Garrett said. She shrugged before he started loading her waiting arms with stacked pastries on delicate china plates. She slowly walked out the doors, watching the floor to make sure she didn’t trip. Setting down the plates, the table finally quieted. The group stared at the plates as if they hadn’t eaten in days, and Alani wondered quite how long ago it’s been since they had eaten. She moved as her boss set down the rests of the plates and looked towards who had ordered so much food. He scanned the table and felt self-conscious at all the weird looks he was getting.

A man at the far end was grooming his bright orange mustache as the girl with pointy ears next to him was adjusting the crown atop her head. Meanwhile, a woman sat on the other side of him, her skin being bright purple with strange markings, and the younger boy next to her looked completely normal except for the out of date hairstyle and scar on his cheek. He would have thought they were just regular patrons getting ready to go to a convention, except the rest of them appeared completely normal. He saw a girl with long blonde hair and blue highlighter, a young man with a ponytail, a younger version of said man, who wore circular glasses and was giggling into their hands, and a Cuban boy, who was also trying to hide his own laughter. Mr. Garrett looked at the final customer. He had black hair, tied back with an orange headband, and the same light brown skin dawned with a couple scars here and there. His dark brown eyes had tears in them, as well as dark circles underneath. It looked like he hadn’t slept a good night’s sleep in while. 

Mr. Garrett couldn’t-wouldn’t- believe his eyes. The boy he’d raised, taught, sent to school… lost, was sitting in front of him, waiting for something. What could he give him? What would bring his son back to him? He wondered if this was another episode or hallucination. He’d had a couple of those, but after starting the medication they’d gone away. Maybe he’d become immune or something. Everything around him seemed to go too slow while his mind was going way too fast. It was overwhelming. He was screaming inside but not on the outside. He couldn’t make a sound, couldn’t make a move. Mr. Garrison was afraid if he moved, his son would disappear. Again. 

After a long drawn out silence, he heard the words of someone who was no longer a seventeen-year-old boy, but an adult. A voice that was no longer scratchy and high-pitched. Someone who had grown up. 

“Hey, Dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I changed my writing style like 3 times while writing this _very_ short piece, but I hope it was still good and not too obvious! :)


	17. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey.... I'm not dead. 
> 
> I'm about to tell you a fun story of how I am an idiot: So on Thanksgiving, I was starting to write this mini-chapter, but -me being an idiot- spilled a coke onto my keyboard. I thought I dried it all up but I guess it instead, overnight, decided to dry and stick my keys down. I then proceeded to pry off every single key -like an idiot- and then not be able to get them back on. As it turns out, when I pried them off, I was actually breaking them, so I had to order entirely new keys. 
> 
> Basically, I just got all my keys back on and am finally able to post this! Sorry it's so short!

“No...No, no, no,” Mr. Garrett whirled back into a table, dropping his tray. The table rocked back and forth under the impact until the distressed man finally let his weight be supported by a nearby wall. He sank to the floor, clawing at his eyes as if it would make the image go away. 

“Dad! Dad, it's alright. I’m here, I'm okay,” Hunk ran to his father's side, joining him on the tile floor. He tried to pull his father’s hands away from his face, but it was useless as his father was just as muscular as him. 

“Mrs. Garrett, come quick!” Alani called to the back kitchen. She was thankful it was just them, quickly running over to the storefront window to flip their sign from open to closed. 

“Alani, we’ve talked about this. Don’t be so dramatic or else I’ll think something’s actually wrong,” A woman said as she rushed out of the kitchen doors, seeing the young girl completely fine. She lifted up the hem of her apron wiping her flour-covered face and cleaned her batter covered fingers on a nearby towel. “And ‘Tiga, why have you been gone for so long?” 

She looked around the small, crowded room, her eyes landing on her husband sobbing into another man’s arms. She internally groaned, wondering how she would explain her husband's severe anxiety attacks to a group of foreign strangers. She loved her husband and tried her hardest to be understanding, but after six years their bakery had served countless customers, that also witnessed the same occurrence. Mrs. Garrett instantly felt regret about her annoyance, knowing firsthand how a mental illness like that could affect your stability. She leaned down, tapping the kind stranger’s shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry. He has PTSD and you probably reminded him of our late son. I apologize,” Mrs. Garrett attempted to unravel her husband’s arms from around the stranger, but the task wasn’t easy, as she was only five feet tall and half the size of 'Tiga. 

“It's okay. I can understand the burden of a traumatic incident,” the stranger said, turning to face Mrs. Garrett. Except he wasn’t a stranger anymore- no, instead she saw the same brown eyes of an aspiring astronautical engineer, staring up at her.


	18. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas(for those who celebrate it)! I hope everyone has had a good Holiday season! Sorry for the lack of updates-- nobody told me high school was gonna be this stressful. I hope everyone(still in school) did well on their midterms/finals and nobody's mental & physical health suffered too much from it! Take care of yourselves! :) Enjoy

“My baby? My son?” She ran her hands over the boy’s cheeks, eying the dark circles under his eyes and grazing the scars at his jaw. 

“Mom, tinā,” Hunk placed his free hand over hers. The others watched the exchange, with lust in their eyes. Well, all except for Pidge and Matt; they viewed the exchange with empathy. They knew what it felt like to see someone they hadn't seen in years. The pain and love mixed into an indescribable feeling. Although Shiro had gone home already, he still had someone to lust after. “Mom, Dad. These are my friends. Well, they’re actually more like family,” Hunk motioned his hand out to them. 

Alani ran back out with some metal fold-out chairs under her arms. Mrs. Garrett thankfully took one, needing to sit down. Hunk stood up and reached down for his father. Mr. Garrett sat next to his, now uncontrollably-crying, wife. They wrapped each other in a hug until Alani tapped ‘Tiga’s shoulder. She held out a wet hand towel to him. 

“Haha, Thank you, Alani,” Mr. Garrett smiled at her, taking the cloth. He wiped it over his puffy, red eyes, and let it rest on his forehead for a moment. He was an “ugly” crier, as people liked to say, whereas his wife was more subtle about it. It was a talent really, how she could be emotional one minute and look perfectly beautiful the next. Of course, he thought she was beautiful always. 

 

“Hey, do you want us to leave,” Keith whispered to Hunk, “You guys should have some time to talk.”

“No, no. Please stay,” Hunk smiled at him, “It helps to have you guys here.” 

“M-kay, but we can at least eat,” Pidge said, already filling up their plate, “Right?”

“Haha, go ahead” 

 

“Baby,” Mrs. Garrett started, pulling Hunk’s attention towards them. She still had tears in her eyes, but, true to what Mr. Garrison said, she didn’t have puffy eyes or a red nose. However, she had pulled her curly hair down from its messy bun and it was now sitting in a loose braid over her shoulder. “Why are you here? Where have you been? They told us-” She paused choking on her words. 

“The Garrison told you I was dead,” It wasn’t a question, really. Hunk already knew from what Shiro told them earlier. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. But…. didn’t you guys get my message?”

“What message?” Mr. Garrison said, confused. Hunk’s face paled. He thought they maybe had some kind of idea that he was still alive, despite the Garrison telling them otherwise. 

“We all sent messages back to our families. About three years ago, I think?” Shiro filled in for him. 

“Wasn’t there a huge mail search around that time?”Mrs. Garrison asked her husband.

“Yeah, I think so,” Alaini answered when Mr. Garrett gave his wife a confused look, “They went through everything and pulled out anything that looked illegal,” Alaini continued, “They did it to the whole state, and we couldn’t do anything against it ‘cause they had warrants.” 

“Oh man, I forgot about that!” Mr. Garrett explained, “Wasn’t that the year that we didn’t have any Christmas presents because they took them for inspection? They even took letters because they thought they were either from people like spys or illegal-drug dealers.”

“They?” Shiro questioned, “Like the Garrison?”

“I guess it could’ve been the Garrison, but it was the US government that came to us. And I guess a couple other states were checked, too, but I don’t know which ones.”

“That’s odd. I mean, I guess the Garrison is a part of the government, but I wonder how they convinced them to get warrants for millions of people,” Pidge questioned, “But we all know they have people on the inside of every branch.”

“Haha, you and Keith would be perfect together! He’s into conspiracy theories, too!” Matt laughed, poking his sibling in the face. 

“Wow, you’re so funny, Matt,” Pidge responded, flatly. They eyed an already-blushing Keith, continuing, “Plus, I think Keith already has someone to pine after.” 

Keith’s face turned bright scarlet red as he glared daggers at the green paladin. Pidge cackled, biting into one of the pastries. They knew Keith’s secret, even before Keith knew it himself. 

"What? Keith likes someone?! I didn't know he had feelings," Lance leaned forward, sitting on the edge of his chair, "Who is she? Please tell."

“Pidge, I swear to god... If you say anything,” Keith growled, snatching his own pastry from one of the trays. 

“Okay… I won’t say anything,” Pidge reluctantly said. “At least not yet,” they whispered. 

“Pidge-”

“Fine!”

 

“Okay, okay. This conversation got too deep, too fast. Plus, I doubt Keith would want to spend this morning being harassed by all of you. He'll tell us if he wants to. Lets eat!” Hunk said, grabbing some Pani Popo. They crowded around the tables, sitting on stools, partially on each other’s laps, and even on the windowsill. Mr. Garrett talked about current events while Hunk and his mother talked about weird alien recipes he’d recreated throughout the years. Hunk swerved around the questions regarding what he was doing up in space. He didn’t want to tell them about the battles he fought in and the impending war that was coming to Earth. He didn’t want them to see the many scars that covered his arms, legs, chest, and back. He didn’t want them to know how he couldn’t really hear all that well anymore, because of the many explosions he’d heard over the years. He didn’t want to worry them about the fact that his vision in his right eye was worse because of a punch he took to the temple. He was fine and perfectly healthy if anyone asked. Inside and out. 

 

“Hunk, you need to tell them, dude,” Lance whispered, pulling him into the kitchen. 

“I-I’m not ready. They don’t need to know, not yet,” Hunk replied, trying to walk back into the dining room. 

“Hunk,” Lance whisper-yelled, “The longer we don’t tell them, the more its going to hurt.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah. I’ll tell them. Just,” Hunk paused, “Give me an hour… Then I’ll tell them.”

“Tell them what?” Alani stepped out from her hiding spot, behind a metal rack full of ingredients. She glared at Hunk, sending waves of anger with each step she took towards the two. “Are you not telling Mr. and Mrs. Garrett something? I mean, it’s already odd that you’ve come back after years of hiding in space, but have you brought something along with you?”

“Have you been spying on us?” Lance whispered angrily, stepping in front of his friend. “And what do you mean hiding? If anything, we’ve been doing the opposite of that! We’ve been across the Universe, we’ve been to dozens of planets, and you think we’ve been… hiding?” 

“Lance, Alani! Stop!” He pulled Lance away, “Fighting isn’t going to solve anything. I’m going to have to tell them, just… not yet. I don’t want to ruin the mood. After we finish eating, I’ll show them the presentation Allura, Coran, Romelle, and Krolia made. Deal?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Lance said. 

“Okay, I won’t say anything, but what am I not supposed to say, exactly?” Alani asked.

“Well, for the past few years, we’ve been on dozens of... missions. But they haven’t been ordinary missions. We’ve been trying to save Earth, along with thousands of other planets that are in danger,” Lance explained. “Alaini, there’s a war coming. Soon.”


End file.
